A massive 45 percent plunge in Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) individual annual premium equivalent (APE) in January capped the industry growth at 8 percent for the month, according to a report. Industry leader LIC saw its individual APE growth plummet to 45 percent, due to a massively high base of 99 percent growth in January 2020.

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Yet, at 8 percent, individual APE for the life insurance industry in January is higher than the 3 percent it had managed to grow in December and 7 percent decline in November 2020, according to the report by Kotak Securities. However, this pick-up in individual business indicates a gradual increase in demand for Ulips, which has been the bane of the industry for quite some time, said the report.

Moderation in the growth of protection business from peak levels seems to have been arrested, as the individual non-single sum assured to individual non-single premium for private players was 25 times in January. It was 23 times in December but stood lower at 31 times in January 2020 and 35 times in the second quarter 2020-21.

Overall, the APE was up 8 percent led by 20 percent growth in the group business but this looks to be volatile. Group APE growth remains strong, likely due to a pick-up in the credit protect business.

Industry leader LIC saw a 45 percent plunge in individual APE. From the private sector, HDFC Life led the growth chart with a 24 percent rise, 4 percent higher than 20 percent growth over the previous two months.

ICICI Prudential saw this business declining 7 percent, despite in January 2020 also this business was down 5 percent. For SBI Life, it was muted with 1 percent growth, down from 7 percent in December 2020 and 17 percent in January 2020.